Wednesday, April 11, 2007

I’m going to let you in on a little secret. Soufflés are easy. Yes, I said it…easy. Especially the cheese soufflé I demo in this video recipe clip. The soufflé is one of those recipes that Chefs like to think only they can do properly. The cliché of the housewife crying over the fallen soufflé has become part of our collective culinary consciousness. Granted, you do have to follow a couple steps properly (which you are about to see in the video), but anyone can do this soufflé; even the novice cook.

The base to this cheese soufflé is our classic Béchamel sauce that has been posted previously. PLEASE note: in this demo I start with a 2 cup batch of Béchamel to which I add my 4oz. of grated cheese. BUT, I only use 1 cup of the cheese-infused Béchamel for this recipe. I saved the rest for a batch of Croque Monsieur that I promise to show you soon (just in case you’ve never heard of a Croque Monsieur, it’s only the greatest open-faced sandwich ever!). Another recipe tip; make sure your eggs are cold. The cold yolks will help cool down the warm cheesy Béchamel, and cold egg whites will whip up much easier. Also, the cooking time given is just a guide. I was using 5 oz ramekins, which gave me 6 soufflés. If you use a different size, you’ll just have to keep an eye on them…and YES, it’s OK to peek in the oven, the soufflé is NOT going to fall from a quick peak. Visually, when they look fully puffed up, they are done. In fact, true soufflé connoisseurs don’t mind it if the center of the soufflé is still a bit runny.

As far as cheese choices, I went with a classic Cave-aged Gruyere (Swiss) cheese and some parmesan. Almost any cheese will work as long as it’s similar in texture to what I used. If you decide to use a softer cheese like Goat cheese, or Brie, then this recipe would have to be adjusted. Try These!! Enjoy.

NOTE: WE ARE ONLY USING A CUP OF THIS MIXTURE FOR OUR DEMO BELOW! Save the rest. You’ll be glad you did when you see our Croque Monsieur recipe.

To make the Soufflés: 1 cup of the Cheesy Bechamel Sauce Base described above4 cold egg yolks4 cold egg whitesbutter to grease ramekinsParmesan to dust ramekins and top of soufflésYeilds: Six Soufflés (5-oz ramekins)

15 comments:

I figured the use of copper bowls had something to do with activation sites (similar to using not entirely clean glasses for more bubbly champagne), so I looked it up in my copy of "On Food and Cooking". It turns out that egg white foam is basically a structure of tiny bubbles formed from the whisking action. Copper increases the overall volume because it interferes with the bonding action of sulfur in the proteins of egg whites. Essentially, it prevents the bubbles from breaking down and forming liquid again. Silver has the same effect, as do acids. (Harold McGee recommends cream of tartar or lemon juice)